THE NUMBER of properties that received energy upgrades in Limerick has more than doubled in one year from 983 in 2022 to 1,981 in 2023.
4,960 properties have been upgraded across the county since 2019.
That’s according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, who reported that 47,900 retrofits were carried out nationally in the past five years.
Adding the 2,445 homes that were retrofitted under the Local Authority Energy Efficiency Programme brings the total number of upgrades that were supported by the government last year to over 50,400.
Limerick TD Brian Leddin welcomed the announcement as very positive, saying that the nation is “30 per cent ahead of the retrofitting target”.
“We are making huge progress on energy upgrades to homes that are changing people’s lives for the better. We are told over and over that the targets can’t be reached, but 2023 shows that they can, and that they can be exceeded.”
“SEAI are providing a wide range of grants that are making these energy improvements possible. In the next few months low cost loans for SEAI approved upgrades will also become available. The number of households benefiting from energy upgrades under the fully funded scheme, known as the Warmer Homes Schemes, has been increasing.”
While there were fears raised about the lack of labour and relevant skills at the time the National Retrofit Plan was announced, the figures show that almost 500 people completed retrofitting training in 2023 and, based on the emerging numbers in January, the total number of upskilled trainees will likely exceed 1000 this year, Deputy Leddin said.
The most popular areas for grant-assisted upgrades were for individual Solar PVC grants, claimed by 855 households in Limerick, followed by general individual energy grants which benefitted 838 homes.
Limerick received 88 community energy grants and 160 fully funded total energy upgrades.
